


A Storm Raging on the Horizon

by JaskiersWolf



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hurt Jaskier | Dandelion, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Naked Cuddling, One Shot, POV Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Phobias, Protective Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:37:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25884439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaskiersWolf/pseuds/JaskiersWolf
Summary: Geralt and Jaskier were in the middle of nowhere when the rain began to fall, days between the last town and the next. Geralt swore under his breath. He should have known that the storm was coming. The humidity had been almost suffocating all day and the black clouds had plunged the world into darkness.Unbeknownst to him, Jaskier has a tiny little secret phobia that is about to be found out.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 39
Kudos: 489





	A Storm Raging on the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally use song lyrics for titles... but it's late and it just fit too well. Also I am terrified of storms and we've had a lot the last couple of days. So this was basically me projecting onto Jaskier... He's probably not really scared of storms, but hey! Fanfic. Also two things in one day! Boom!

They were in the middle of nowhere when the rain began to fall, days between the last town and the next. Geralt swore under his breath. He should have known that the storm was coming. The humidity had been almost suffocating all day and the black clouds had plunged the world into darkness. He cast Axii on Roach as she started to get restless, the last thing he wanted was to be thrown off his horse and into one of the muddy puddles that were forming on the path. 

He glanced up at the sky thoughtfully. 

At least the rain would smell good. Geralt loved the rain for that reason. It was only troublesome when they were so far away from proper shelter. There was no way to dry out their clothes until the rain stopped and Jaskier got cold quickly, especially if they couldn’t find proper firewood that wasn’t soaked. Not even Igni could help if the wood was sodden. 

Geralt flicked the hood of his cloak and spurred Roach forwards with a gentle kick. 

“This is just fucking brilliant.” Jaskier moaned and trotted to keep up with him. “You wouldn’t happen to have another cloak hidden away would you, only the rain is a teensy bit cold?”

“No.”

Jaskier sighed. “What about shelter? Any towns nearby? Caves, preferably not inhabited by any ghouls or anything?”

“Ghouls don’t live in caves.” Geralt rolled his eyes. 

“Werewolves then!” Jaskier threw his hands up. 

“Werewolves tend to live in villages, houses just like any other person.” Geralt reminded the bard. 

“Oh fuck off.” Jaskier grumbled and ran in front of Roach, walking backwards so Geralt could see his unimpressed expression. “You’re always so pedantic, you know that right? And you still haven’t answered the question.”

Geralt smirked and tilted his head. He pulled on the reins and cantered around the bard. “There’s no shelter. We’ll have to make camp.” 

Jaskier groaned. “Are you sure there’s no abandoned cottages close? You could make nice with a hedge witch. We both know how much you love witches.”

Geralt ignored the jab. “No cottages.”

“Bollocks.” Jaskier sighed. 

The sky lit up brilliantly as electricity sparked between the clouds. Geralt always enjoyed watching the lightning. There was something quite mesmerising about watching it streak across the sky with the calming patter of rain in the background. 

His companion clearly did not share his love of storms. Jaskier jumped and yelped as thunder rumbled up ahead. Not more than two seconds after the lightning, the storm was close. The bard’s scent soured and left a bitter taste in the back of Geralt’s throat. 

“Jaskier?” Geralt asked slowing Roach to a stop. 

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.” Jaskier stammered. 

“Hmm.” Geralt furrowed his brow. He could hear Jaskier’s heart pounding in his chest. He dismounted Roach, landing on the ground with a squelch. He grabbed the back of Jaskier’s doublet and spun him around so he was facing him. The bard’s blue eyes were dark, pupils dilated and his hands were shaking. 

Geralt took Jaskier’s hands in his to try and stop the trembling. Jaskier stammered unintelligibly and fidgeted, looking around at the sky. 

“You’re afraid of thunder?” Geralt asked in a low voice, the one he used to calm Roach when she was panicking. 

“Thunder, lightning, the whole ensemble really.” He squeaked just as another flash of lightning crackled across the sky, and Geralt suddenly found his arms full of trembling bard. 

He frowned but wrapped his arms around Jaskier’s back, one hand stroking through his chestnut brown hair. It was already wet from the rain but Geralt hoped the motion might help to calm Jaskier’s nerves. 

“There, there.” He grunted. 

Jaskier whimpered. “Are you sure we can’t find somewhere? Maybe we’ll run into Yennefer and she can portal us out of here. She does have a habit of just popping up out of nowhere.” Jaskier mumbled into Geralt’s neck. 

Geralt scowled and continued to stroke Jaskier’s hair. His heartbeat was still too fast and he reeked of fear. Geralt wondered if he should use Axii to calm his friend, it worked on Roach. 

“Do you want me to…” He vaguely gestured with his hands, not that Jaskier could see with his face still planted firmly in Geralt’s neck.

Jaskier mumbled something that Geralt couldn’t make out. He rolled his eyes and pulled the bard off of him. 

“Axii?” He asked with a tilt of his head. “It might help.”

Jaskier gaped at him and prodded him firmly in the chest. “No! Do not use your witcher magic on me.” He paused. “But thank you for asking.” 

“I want to help.” Geralt huffed. 

Jaskier pulled him into another hug as the sky lit up and there was a loud rumble up ahead. The rain was now pouring heavily and they were both soaked through, the water streaming down his face and catching in his eyelashes. He blinked hard to try and clear the rain from his eyes.

“Jaskier,” He murmured in the bard’s ear. “We need to set up camp.”

Jaskier’s scent sweeten slightly at the words, a faint whiff of honied chamomile. 

Interesting.

“I need you to let go, Jask.” He hummed in a low voice. 

Jaskier shook his head. 

“Come on, Jask.” Geralt soothed. “It’ll be better once we’re under shelter.” 

“What if the lightning hits the tent?” Jaskier grumbled.

“I won’t let that happen.” Geralt assured him. 

To his surprise Jaskier managed a strained laugh. “White Wolf, you are capable of many things. Controlling lightning is not one of them.” 

“How do you know?” Geralt teased. “Some ancient witcher magic.”

“Oh fuck off!” Jaskier groaned and then squeezed tighter as the lightning flashed around them. 

Which gave Geralt an idea. He fumbled blindly in Roach’s saddlebags, trying to find an old shirt or bandage or something. It wasn’t easy with Jaskier clinging onto him. Eventually he pulled a scrap of fabric from his bag and pulled Jaskier off of him. 

The bard protested but Geralt just spun him around and tied the bandages tightly around Jaskier’s head. He waved a hand in front of Jaskier’s face. “Can you see?”

“Can I see?” Jaskier asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh I don’t know, Geralt. Can I see? No of course I can’t see, some brute has blindfolded me!” He snapped. 

Geralt grinned. “So you can’t see the lightning?” He asked slowly. 

Jaskier’s mouth snapped shut. 

“That’s what I thought.” Geralt smirked and manoeuvred the bard so he could hold onto Roach. “You two. Stay.”

“Geralt!” Jaskier whined. 

“I need to make camp, quickly. If you hadn’t noticed there’s a storm and we need to get a fire going before it’s too late.” Geralt said firmly.

It didn’t take long to set up the tents under the trees near the path. He was hoping that if the lightning did choose to hit nearby then it would go for the trees rather than the shelter. An empty cave would have been ideal but he knew the area well and any caves around here would be occupied. He knew that one in particular was home to a family of trolls. 

It took longer to find some firewood that hadn’t been soaked through but eventually he found some hidden in the roots of a tree. He could hear Jaskier singing loudly to Roach as the thunder continued to rumble in the sky. The ground shook underfoot and Geralt frowned. The storm really was right on top of them. 

He was almost proud of his bard. The man clearly had an intense fear of the storm but he was handling it surprisingly well. It was… brave?

Geralt hadn’t thought of the bard as brave before. Stupid? Yes. Reckless? Absolutely, but never brave.

And yet Jaskier had not only let Geralt blind him, taking away one of his most vital senses as a human, but he’d also not completely freaked out when Geralt had left him alone with Roach. He watched Jaskier run his hands through Roach’s sodden black mane with newfound respect before walking over to them. His bard and his horse. 

He took Jaskier’s hand gently. The bard didn’t even flinch. 

“Geralt?”

“Yeah. It’s me. Come on.” Geralt murmured and took Roach’s reins in his other hand so he could lead them both to the camp.

* * *

The fire was crackling and Geralt had to keep blasting it with Igni to keep it from going out. By the time the storm had finally cleared, they’d stripped out of their wet clothes and huddled under a blanket from Roach’s saddlebags, perching at the edge of the tent. The sun had set about an hour ago and Jaskier was still blindfolded as he leant against Geralt’s shoulder, humming under his breath. 

Geralt’s throat felt dry. He had been talking almost constantly since they’d sat down, trying to block out the sound of the thunder. He’d noticed that Jaskier’s scent warmed whenever he spoke. For some crazy unknown reason his voice seemed to make Jaskier less afraid. 

It had taken a while to get used to Jaskier’s insistence on hugging him, even without their clothes on. The bard had no shame apparently. Geralt had tried not to look at his friend but he hadn’t quite managed to keep his eyes away from the surprisingly muscular torso, covered in thick brown hair. He’d felt a pang of guilt for looking when Jaskier was blinded but he couldn’t exactly take it back.

“Geralt?” Jaskier asked quietly.

Geralt frowned and realised he’d stopped talking. 

“The rain’s stopped. You can take that off now.” He grunted. 

Jaskier tilted his head and squeezed Geralt’s arm tighter. “Can you do it?”

Geralt was stunned by the vulnerability in Jaskier’s voice. Normally the bard was all quips, sarcasm and charm. Geralt nodded before remembering Jaskier couldn’t see him. “Alright. Turn around.” 

Jaskier let go of his iron grip on Geralt’s arm and spun round. Geralt swallowed, his eyes roaming over the bare skin of the bard’s back. He still couldn’t quite process how Jaskier managed to hide all that muscle under doublets, how he managed to appear so small when in reality he wasn’t much leaner than Geralt. 

He resisted the urge to kiss Jaskier’s exposed shoulder but he did lean forward to scent his neck. He told himself that he just wanted to make sure that Jaskier’s fear was gone, to make sure that only Jaskier’s natural honey and chamomile scent remained. 

The bard tilted his head back as Geralt brushed his nose under Jaskier’s jaw. 

“Geralt,” Jaskier sighed. “As surprising and delightful as this is. I would like to be able to see you again. I miss your grumpy face.”

Geralt scoffed. “Maybe I should have tied it around your mouth instead of your eyes.” 

Jaskier laughed. It was melodic and beautiful, all traces of fright were gone. Geralt had never been so happy to hear the bard’s laughter. He reached up and pulled the knot loose. The blindfold fell into Jaskier’s lap. 

“Ah fuck.” Jaskier groaned. “Has fire always been so bright? Geralt save me!” He spun round and buried his face in Geralt’s neck. 

Geralt froze. Jaskier seemed to have either forgotten about the lack of clothing between them, or just didn’t care. Geralt guessed it was probably the latter. He sighed and let the bard cling onto him. 

“Are you feeling better?” He asked softly. 

Jaskier nodded. “Much. Thank you. I’m sorry.” He paused and pulled back to look Geralt in the eyes. After hours of not being able to see Jaskier’s eyes, Geralt was almost stunned by their beauty. They were glittering in the light of the fire. “I’m always a burden on you.” Jaskier smiled sadly. 

Geralt huffed a laugh. Normally he would agree. Jaskier didn’t always make things easy on the path. Geralt had to adjust his whole routine to make sure the bard didn’t freeze to death or get mauled by a stray bear or monster, but in that moment Jaskier didn’t feel like a burden at all. He was just a man, who had been afraid of something as mundane as a storm, and he’d allowed Geralt to be there for him when he was most vulnerable. 

He’d trusted Geralt. 

He’d been less afraid… because of Geralt. 

He stared back into Jaskier’s shining eyes so full of hope and wonder. 

Geralt wasn’t good with words, not in moments like this, not like Jaskier was, or could be. So he did the only thing he could think of and cupped Jaskier’s face in his hands, pulling the bard into a kiss. Jaskier hummed in surprise but quickly wrapped fingers around the back of Geralt’s neck to stop him from pulling away. 

Geralt smiled into the kiss. He’d not really known what to expect when he’d kissed Jaskier, he’d hoped for a favourable result but he was still amazed by Jaskier’s eagerness. 

They would talk about it in the morning by the light of day, when their clothes had hopefully dried out and the magic from the fire had turned to embers, but for now he was just happy kissing his friend and letting all their fears and worries fade away. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this pretty quickly and proof read it even faster so any glaring errors pls point them out and I'll edit, but overall I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. 
> 
> Hoped you liked it! 
> 
> \- Yaz


End file.
